Carrier upbeat on sales to firms

Carrier Thailand, the seller and distributor of commercial air conditioners, sees promising opportunities in the local business-to-business (B2B) market, driven by increasing demand from hotels and restaurants for air conditioners as foreign tourist arrivals rise following the pandemic.
Between Jan 1 and Nov 24, Thailand welcomed 31.3 million foreign arrivals, led by Chinese (6 million), Malaysian (4.4 million) and Indian (1.8 million) visitors, according to the Economics Tourism and Sports Division of the Tourism and Sports Ministry.
In addition, Thailand is experiencing a surge in foreign investments in data centres, which offers a B2B opportunity, said Victor Yu, managing director of Carrier Thailand.
In September, Google announced plans to invest US$1 billion to build the company’s first data centre and cloud regional centre in Thailand.
“Thailand’s air conditioner market is competitive, but the company is trying to differentiate by focusing on product features and functionality rather than pricing strategy,” he said.
The company has a factory in Bangkadi Industrial Park, in Pathum Thani province, where it manufactures products under the Toshiba and Carrier brands.
This facility is meant to be a comprehensive production base to supply both the local and global markets, said Mr Yu.
After Donald Trump won the United States presidential election, observers are monitoring proposed US trade policies, which could affect the global economy if import tariffs are ramped up on Chinese products, with the mainland likely to flood other markets with its oversupply, including Thailand.
He said an influx of air conditioners from China would not have a significant impact on Thailand’s air conditioner market as production plants in each country have different target markets.
For example, a heating, ventilation and air conditioner factory located in China would focus on producing heat pumps, while Thailand has more demand for cooling products, said Mr Yu.
He did not reveal the company’s sales target for this year, but said it is aiming for double-digit revenue growth.